Experiment Control Electronics for Spinning Quad Ionospheric Deployer SQUID

The Spinning QUad Ionospheric Deployer (SQUID) is a soundingcrocket experiment developed to test and verify a novel mechanism to deploy wire booms. The SQUID consists of the Rocket Mounted Unit (RMU) and the Free Flying Unit (FFU), the former is attached to the rocket and the latter is ejected. The FFU carries the electronics box (eBox) that controls the system and the boom deployment system known as SCALE. The FFU needs to be independent when has been ejected from the rocket. This thesis work covers the design and manufacture of the SQUID electronics system to control the functionality of the experiment. The control is implemented in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) using the VHDL language. The integration, testing and validation of software and hardware also is presented here. The SQUID experiment was launched onboard the REXUS-10 rocket from ESRANGE the 23rd February 2011